Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-01-29
THREE MERRY ARTISTS.

InhUE
Paris 1, no longer tho gay capfsal.o 9
NIFTY wears ago. To the stranger tnero y
.sr 10 he little difference. We ha~et ne
No.. tba Bois. the salons and all the otnel
Hpruoa, and brilliant diversions; but tne
Aroe,icans. the Russians, the Eng1sn "no
,.va allied Paris, buy their amusement IRON
~. and our pleasure is the pleasure OF the
Ihowman. But the greatest change one sna'
Ill can see, is in the Latin quarter. lug
pretty. pleasure-loving grisettes are Srans
formed into calculating cocettes; the nappy!
careless students have given way to acrowo
NJ sombre 'digs," and the life OF the con
-;erre wearies him for ts very freedom
rom the pranks Of his reckless dodgers. Were
Henri Murger to come back now, ne would
h,,v a nan of charcoal and be waited on its
vanorv wings to the land where Musette n
Mimi awaited him.
Sorie,,l was one Of the last OF these Bone
mans. He was ostensibly an artist, but MS
nights were spent in rioting, and bis days-m
he morning he recovered from the previous
night, in the afternoon he prepared for the
evening. He had a large studio filed Will
studies. sketches, half-fnished pictures, Dut
Is PRINCIPAL use was as a banqueting hall.
Here he would gather together some score or
so of couples from the neighborhood, illumi-
nate the room with tapers, and entertain the
company with songs, orations, dancing-any
thing that entered their heads. Then, when
The tapers or refreshments had given out and
the company retired to their several lodgings,
he would retain O few choice spirits and
kpend the remainder of the night drinking
nunch-he was a capital fist at q ~punch-and
performing whatever e~xtravagant act the
potations inspired.
On one of these occasions he had kept but
two friends to bear him company through
tho night, LIE Pottevin and Voltage, both
artists like himself. As was their custom,
they retired to the small room adjoining the
studio, brewed their punch, smoked their
pipes, talked, sang and finally became very
drunk. In fact, by the time the purple flames
Of the third brew were giving to their flushed
faces q distorted and rather ghastly appear
ance, Le Pottevin was the only man who
knew what he was doing. They were holding
a violent discussion about the merits of the
imperial army, in~terspersed with occasional
snatches of those stirring songs that had en-
livened many a camp fire.
Presently Sorieul got to praising tho uni
form of the various corps, and suddenly SPRING
ing to his feet he took from the huge chest in
which he kept his artists paraphernalia a
complete hussar's uniform and proceeded to
array himself in it. He next commanded
LIE Pottevin to toy himself out as a grena-
der; and as that worthy refused, the two
laid hold of him, pulled of his clothes, and
introduced him into the enormous uniform,
in which he, being a small man, seemed
quite lost. Voltage lshed out a cuirassier's
suit and put it on. Sorieul now put them
through a number of complicated and en-
tirely new evolutions. firing of this, how
ever, he reverted to the original idea.
"As we are soldiers" said he, "let US drinK
like soldiers"
A punch was accordingly brewed and they
had half finished it when all at once Le
Pottevin, who in spite Of his deep potations
was almost master Of himself, silenced the
others with a gesture, and after q few seconds
he said, in a whisper:
listen! I am sure I heard . noise in the
next ROOM" Then rising unsteadily to his
feet, he cried, "a spy"
Going to a trophy of arms which decorated
the wall he proceeded to equip the trio &C
cording to their uniforms. Voltage had a
sort of carbine and a saber; LIE Pottevin an
immense musket with a villainous looking
bayonet, and Sorieul, not finding what he
wanted, armed himself with a great horse
pistol, which he showed into his belt, and a
battle axe, which he ~brandished around
furiously. With great caution the door of
the studio was opened and they advanced
the suspected territory.
When they reached the center Of the large
room, numbered up with its variety Of Curl
and i~ncongruous articles, such as one
finds only in an artists studio or the property
room of a theatre, Sorieul said:
II declare myself general. Now let us hold
q council Of war. You, the cuirassiers, shall
cut off the enemy's retreat, that is to say,
lock the door, and you, the %grenadiers, shall
be my escort"
Voltage executed the movement ordered and
re1o1ned the main body Of the troops.
were engaged in a reconnaissance.
Just as Voltage was looking behind a largo
japanese screen, he heard q terrific hubbub
in the other side of the room. He hurried
over, still carrying a candle in his hand, and
found that Le Pottevin, with a single mighty
thrust, had transfxed the body Of O lay
figure with his bayonet. Sorieul was batter
ing it over the head with his axe. The mis-
take being discovered, the general gave the
command: "Let us be prudent" and the re-
,onnoissance was resumed.
For at least twenty minutes they had been
'ummaging around the dark corners, without
success, when LIE Pottevin ~bethought him Of
he closet. Cautiously opening the door, |
Voltage advanced his light and peered into /
he darkness. He sprang back, terrified; a
nan was in there, q living man, who had |
tared at him with wild and haggard eyes.
He instantly slammed the door to and /
louble locked it, and they held a new coun-
The opinions were widely different. |
'orieul suggested that they suffocate him by |
smoke through the key hole; Le |
'ottevin proposed to besiege him, and bring
i'm out by starvation; Voltage wanted to lay
train Of g%unpowder and blow up the closet.
e Pottevin's advice prevailed, however, and
he mounted guard, with his long mus
.et over his shoulder, the other two went
tter the remainder of the punch and the
ipes. Then the trio sat down before the
ocked door, lit their pipes and drank to the
uccessful issue of the siege.
At the end Of half an hour Sorieul grew
inpatient
"Well. I for n want a sight of the
nemy," he declared. ''Shall we assault his
osition and carry it by forceF'
"Bravo!" cried Voltage, and each seized his
rms. Tue door was thrown open, and
.orieul, cooking his ~pistol-which had not
loaded for years-precipitated himself
n the enemy. Voltage and LIE Pottevin fol-
him, yelling at tho top of their voices.
There was a great scuf1ing In the dark,
nd at the end of fiv minutes Of confusion
icy brought out into the light an old sneak
,ief, squalid, bent and w~hite-baired. They
his hands and feet and showed him into a
hair, he meantime saying not a word.
'This man is a spy. We must court
lartial him. said Sorienl with oro.+ ;